Among the things that Americans are famous for loving, like peanut butter, ice, big cars, and football (real football that is), Americans are also known for loving… well, stuff. Lots of stuff. Sometimes too much stuff. Which is why it is estimated that one in ten US households currently rents at least one storage unit. Because of this, the self-storage industry has been one of the fastest growing commercial real estate sectors over the period of the last 40 years. This article provides a look at this growing and competitive industry.
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This week, the Houston Chronicle published an article about a Municipal Utility District and the dissatisfaction of some homeowners that the MUD might issue bonds, which they believe could raise they property tax rates. The article, in my opinion, was slanted toward an angle that MUDs represent a developer-run local government agency run amok, with little oversight and unchecked taxation power. What this article fails to provide is the overall economic benefit that MUDs provide, and the reason for their existence in the first place. It also doesn’t explain who truly bears the cost of the initial infrastructure – the developers.
Why is the mobile home segment of the housing market so important and yet so maligned by society? The answer is a combination of ignorance, misconceptions, and images from the past where the “trailer trash” notion has been widely portrayed in movies and on television. Realistic vestiges of those images do remain. But today, many mobile home neighborhoods have cleaned up their act, while still providing housing at a very low cost. Without this layer of low cost housing, America would have a much larger number of subsidized renters (or even homeless). Although monthly rental costs for a mobile home vary by quality of location and park amenities, in most markets a family can have a three-bedrooms, two-bath home with a yard for approximately one-half the cost of living in an apartment.
The XXXI (31st) Olympiad is now underway in Rio De Janeiro, and with it come the conversations and debates about the impact of hosting the Olympic Games. Every two years, we see fresh fears about the readiness of the latest host to hold a safe, enjoyable, and profitable Olympics. The cautionary tales of past host cities are brought back up, tales of crippling debt and of expensive new venues now sitting unused in cities such as Montreal, Sarajevo, Athens, and Beijing. The media, former Olympic athletes, and everyday sports fans feel prompted to ask if there is a way to improve the value and mitigate the negative impacts of hosting the Olympic Games. Perhaps some answers can be found by looking back at Houston’s failed bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
Houston remains the largest US metro area most economically tied to oil and gas. Houston benefited from those ties from 2011 to 2014, during a period of high oil prices, adding 380,000 jobs. But since then, oil prices have dropped significantly. While nearly all sectors of the area's economy have felt that drop, some have felt it more than others. The apartment market is receiving a noticeable impact. This article originally appeared in the August 2016 issue of Texas Real Estate Business.
While many demographic trends in America ebb and flow, there are a few that remain constant. One important trend: America is becoming less rural. In the past, both rural and urban areas have grown—urban growth just far surpassed rural growth. Recently, however, non-metro areas in the U.S. have seen the first overall population decrease since these numbers were tracked.
A look at the Numbers
In 1900, the U.S. urban population was just over 30 million while the rural population was just shy of 46 million. The split was 39.6% urban and 60.4% rural. By 2010, the urban share increased to 80.7% while the rural share shrank to 19.3%. For some states, like Texas, this reverse was even more drastic, going from 82.9% rural to 15.3% over the same time. 
While the share of rural residents in America has decreased significantly, the number of residents has actually increased… but only slightly. In comparison, the number of residents considered urban has increased exponentially. Put another way, nearly all the growth in this country has been urban.
While location, location, location is something we tend to emphasize a lot, the best places often come with compromises that are hard to come to terms with—chief among which, the financial matters. But price in itself isn’t everything either. After all, renting a space to live in is all about, well, space. And if you’re anything like us, the more stretch you get for your cash, the wider your grin, so apartment size is important. Then again, you cannot lose sight of location completely…
Here’s what $1,500 rents across the US—from 271 sq.ft. in Manhattan to 1,948 sq.ft. in Memphis
CDS Community Development Strategies The industrial city of Baytown, just east of Houston, has long been ignored by residential developers who create masterplanned and amenitized communities. CDS performed a series of studies for the Baytown – West Chambers County Economic Development Foundation in 2008 – 2010 covering both retail and housing demand in the area. Our work showed that both new retail and housing development serving middle class households was justified by existing market conditions. Since then, Baytown has had great success in attracting well-known retail businesses to fill shopping and dining gaps, plus new quality apartment development. The last piece of the puzzle was attracting a developer to create a new amenitized residential community serving the well-paid professionals and managers who work in the fast-growing industrial facilities nearby. This customer base has long been buying homes in more distant suburban communities such as the west Lake Houston area and Clear Lake, and increasingly in the adjacent community of Mont Belvieu. We demonstrated that a new higher-priced single family development was feasible in Baytown itself, especially if the community supported its development. Finally, 2016 has brought the news Baytown has waited for. The city has accomplished a lot since CDS’ studies, and it’s a credit to local leaders who have worked to attract new investment. See the article linked below.
Does your community have a historic downtown that seems to be neglected? Despite the local history, interesting architecture, and walkable streets, many businesses locate elsewhere. On the surface, it can sometimes feel like a hopeless situation. But many small communities are discovering what works in big cities can work in their little towns, too.
A Little History
The heritage and charm of historic downtowns weren’t enough to sustain economic activity in many small places as economic conditions and consumer preferences changed over time. For many communities, this trend accelerated during the 1960s. Many local businesses were driven under by national chains. Occupants moved out. Rents declined. Eventually, building owners lost the revenue and/or the interest in keeping their properties up to date and in good condition. Sadly, many otherwise attractive buildings fell into disrepair and vacancy.
With the senior population increasing and living longer, the demand for new Active Adult housing is being explored by more developers. One developer, Greystar, has taken the plunge into senior housing recently with the announcement of two Houston properties and 26 more to come around the country.
Google Earth has recently updated their aerial imagery, capturing the flooding that swamped Houston earlier this spring. The latest imagery is dated April 2016, which provides a stark contrast from imagery taken in previous months.
Note: To access this imagery, you need to download Google Earth and utilize the historical imagery function. Click here for more information.
The images below are side by side comparisons of various locations in Houston where the flooding was visually striking. In the first three images, the before pictures on the left were taken in March 2016. In the last image, the before picture was taken in November 2015. CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW TO ENLARGE.
Brazos near Thompsons
Below is Brazos River flooding near Sienna Plantation, Riverstone, and the town of Thompsons. You can see the difference between the levee protected neighborhoods north and east of the river vs. the rural land to the west and south around Thompsons. 
Kent Dussair CDS Community Development Strategies Every big city was once little. But why do so many small towns never really grow? Here are six common reasons why some small places stay that way. While most little towns cannot affect the first two, the last four might represent an opportunity for growth... if they can be corrected. 1) The times they are a changin’.
There are historical reasons cities are located where they are and sometimes the original location factors no longer exist or at least are not relevant. When highways replaced railroads as the primary means of access some small cities became less of a destination and more of a self-contained community. Typically, new highways intentionally bypass commercial areas to avoid stop lights and congestion. Over time key industries/employers can dry up or even shut down and the demand for historically mainstay agricultural crops may diminish. Replacing these employers or products can be slow if not impossible. Houston has been called the most diverse large city in the nation, and the Houston area is counted among the most diverse metropolitan areas in the nation. However, looking at the City or region as a whole does not offer a lot of insight in to how individuals in these areas encounter diversity. Specifically, large regional statistics do not tell us how diverse or segregated the neighborhoods in an area may be, and whether or not individuals are likely to encounter significant diversity where they live. This article takes a closer look at diversity at the local level in the Houston area.  The map below shows the largest race or ethnicity in each Census Block Group geography in the 8-county Houston region* in 2000 and in 2010. Each of the four major race or ethnic groups in the Houston region are color-coded, and the shade of each color indicates the magnitude of the largest group in each geography. The darker colors indicate Block Groups where greater than 80% of the population is part of the largest race or ethnicity. The medium shades show where the largest group makes up between 50% and 80% of the population. The lightest shade of each race or ethnic group’s color code indicates a geography where the largest ethnic group makes up less than 50% of the population. It is these lightest shade Block Groups where race and ethnic diversity is highest. Ethnic Diversity in the Houston Area, 2000 to 2010  The 8-county Houston region: Harris County, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller.
Multigenerational housing is making a comeback. After decades of decline, the number of Americans living in multigenerational households dropped to roughly 26 million in 1970. Since then it’s more than doubled; currently there are an estimated 60 million Americans (18%) living in a home with three or more generations. This article examines the reasons behind this trend and also provides a look at the new types of homes being built to accommodate multigenerational families.
According to data from the American Community Survey (ACS), the number of Americans living in multigenerational households in 2012 was 57 million, or 18.1% of the total population. These 57 million Americans occupied 4.3 million homes. That accounted for 5.6% of all occupied homes in the United States. That’s up from 3.7% of occupied homes in 2000.
Multigenerational households were more common at the beginning of the last century, but declined significantly following World War II. During this time the United States experienced a period of economic expansion which manifested itself in widespread suburban development and an increased supply of single family homes. With home ownership as national policy, mortgages became widely available. In addition, suburban growth and a ready supply of spec homes across the nation accommodated a highly mobile workforce, resulting in many families being spread across several states. 
In an effort to lure new commercial development, many communities want to make sure that prospective developers and businesses have access to accurate demographic data. However, this can be challenging in areas that are growing rapidly. Understanding this challenge requires a basic understanding about how demographic data is collected.
Brenda Crenshaw
CDS Community Development Strategies
So you've decided you need some research for your development or public plan. CDS can help. When we provide research for a project, we look at both quantitative and qualitative factors. Here's a breakdown of our approach...
Kent Dussair
CDS Community Development Strategies
Everyone involved in marketing is at least somewhat familiar with Focus Group research. The idea of quickly gaining valuable insights from a small group of individuals is almost too good to be true. What could be easier than having a friendly discussion with a bunch of nice people? Well not so fast... there are a few important details that are often overlooked.
In my mind there are two classifications of Focus Groups; those that are professionally managed and those that are thrown together haphazardly. The former often yields valuable results—while the latter may produce a false sense of confidence in your conclusions. Here are three basic suggestions:
Ty Jacobsen
CDS Community Development Strategies
As December is to Christmas, the month of May is to auto racing. May is when the countdown begins in earnest toward the Memorial Day weekend and three of the most historic and popular events in the world of auto racing, NASCAR’s World 600, Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, and, especially, the Indianapolis 500. 2016 will mark the 100th running of the 500-mile race at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Speedway itself opened in 1909 and hosted the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911. As one would expect from a facility that first opened during the Taft administration, the Speedway has been in a near constant state of maintenance, expansion, and upgrade over the years. In what had become rather unique in American professional sports, the Speedway had done all of this without ever using government or taxpayer assistance. That changed in 2013, when the Speedway petitioned the State to be made a special taxing district.
Ty Jacobsen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway... on the right, not the left
J. Kirby Snideman, AICP
CDS Community Development Strategies
The US population growth rate is currently around 0.7%. US GDP growth during the 4th quarter of 2015 was 1.4%. Stock market growth of over the long term is generally expected at 6-7%. What do these growth rates mean and how can you quickly makes sense of them? This article explains the Rule of 70, a tool frequently used by urban planners to help the public quickly grasp the impact of growth rates--like Jeb Bush's 4% economic growth goal released last year.
CDS Community Development Strategies
The Energy Corridor District recently released the 2016 Land Use and Demographics report, completed by CDS Community Development Strategies. This report presents a complete profile of the population and development located within the boundaries of The Houston Energy Corridor. CDS has completed a similar report for the Energy Corridor over the last several years.
The Energy Corridor District 2016 Land Use Map
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